The Greater Ukuwela Nature Reserve KwaZulu-Natal South Africa Protected Area Management Plan Final 2020 - 2025 AUTHORISATION This Management Plan for The Greater Ukuwela Nature Reserve is approved: TITLE NAME SIGNATURE AND DATE KwaZulu-Natal MEC: Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs Recommended: TITLE NAME SIGNATURE AND DATE Chief Executive Officer: EKZNW Chairperson: EKZNW, Conservation Services Management Committee Chairperson: The Greater Ukuwela Nature Reserve Prepared by 45 Ridge Road Howick P O Box 14310 HOWICK 3290 Tel: 082 804 4412 Email: [email protected] Citation Pickering, P., McCann K., and Wright, C. (2019) Ukuwela Nature Reserve Management Plan. Version 1.0. TABLE OF CONTENTS AUTHORISATION 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 LIST OF TABLES 1 LIST OF FIGURES 1 ABBREVIATIONS 1 1) BACKGROUND 1 1.1 Purpose of the plan 1 1.2 Structure of the plan 4 1.3 Alignment with METT 4 1.4 Introduction 5 1.5 The values of Ukuwela Nature Reserve 5 1.6 Adaptive management 7 2) DESCRIPTION OF UKUWELA NATURE RESERVE AND ITS CONTEXT 9 2.1 The history of Ukuwela Nature Reserve 9 2.2 The legal context for the management of Ukuwela Nature Reserve 12 2.3 Ecological context of Ukuwela Nature Reserve 15 2.4 Cultural and heritage context of Ukuwela Nature Reserve 26 2.5 Socio-economic role of Ukuwela Nature Reserve 26 2.6 The regional and local planning context of Ukuwela Nature Reserve 27 2.7 Operational management within Ukuwela Nature Reserve 30 2.8 Management effectiveness in Ukuwela Nature Reserve 33 2.9 Summary of management issues, challenges and opportunities 33 3) STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK 35 3.1 Ukuwela Nature Reserve’s vision 35 3.2 Objectives and strategic outcomes 35 4) ZONATION PLAN 39 4.2 Conceptual development guidelines 40 5) ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE 42 6) OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK 44 6.1 Legal compliance and law enforcement 44 6.2 Operational management 47 6.3 Business management and development 50 6.4 Conservation management 52 6.5 Cultural heritage and sense of place 58 6.6 Research and monitoring 58 6.7 Socio-economic benefits 62 7) MONITORING AND REPORTING 65 7.1 Bi-annual monitoring 65 7.2 Annual protected area management plan implementation review 68 8) UKUWELA NATURE RESERVE’S ANNUAL PLAN OF OPERATION 69 8.1 Implementation of the management plan 69 8.2 Responsibilities in implementing the protected area management plan 70 8.3 Ukuwela Nature Reserve’s resource requirements 70 LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1.1 Land ownership within Ukuwela Nature Reserve Table 2.3.1 Vegetation types in Ukuwela Nature Reserve and their contribution towards protected area targets Table 2.3.2 Threatened and endemic plant species present within Ukuwela Nature Reserve Table 2.3.3 Threatened and endemic animal species present within Ukuwela Nature Reserve Table 2.3.4 Identified listed invasive alien species that must be controlled within the reserve in terms of NEMBA Table 2.7.1 Shareholding within the Ukuwela Nature Reserve Game Ownership Association Table 2.9.1 Management challenges, issues and opportunities Table 3.1 Objectives and strategic outcomes for Ukuwela Nature Reserve Table 6.1 Framework for legal compliance and law enforcement Table 6.2 Framework for infrastructure and equipment, financial and human resources, and management systems Table 6.3 Framework for business management and development Table 6.4 Systematic biodiversity planning conservation targets for vegetation types to which Ukuwela Nature Reserve contributes Table 6.5 Framework for ecosystem and species management Table 6.6 Framework for fire and herbivore management, invasive plant species control and erosion management Table 6.7 Framework for cultural heritage and sense of place, and research and monitoring Table 6.8 Framework for socio-economic benefits Table 7.1 Annual monitoring schedule for Ukuwela Nature Reserve LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 Structure of the Management Plan Figure 1.2 Regional location of Ukuwela Nature Reserve Figure 1.3 The adaptive management cycle (Management Strategy Evaluation, 2009) Figure 2.1 Land ownership within Ukuwela Nature Reserve Figure 2.2 Ukuwela Nature Reserve perimeter fence Figure 2.3 Mean monthly rainfall for Ukuwela Nature Reserve recorded during the period 1995 to 2009 Figure 2.4 Topography of Ukuwela Nature Reserve and its surrounds Figure 2.5 Geology of Ukuwela Nature Reserve and its surrounds Figure 2.6 Drainage and hydrology of Ukuwela Nature Reserve and its surrounds Figure 2.7 Vegetation of Ukuwela Nature Reserve and its surrounds (KZN Vegetation layer) Figure 2.8 Famine weed (Parthenium hysterophorus) Figure 2.9 Location of Ukuwela Nature Reserve in relation to KZN macro- ecological corridors Figure 2.10 Ukuwela Nature Reserve potential expansion properties Figure 2.11 Local municipalities within which Ukuwela Nature Reserve falls Figure 2.12 Big 5 False Bay Spatial Development Framework Development Corridors Figure 2.14 Infrastructure located within Ukuwela Nature Reserve Figure 4.1 Zonation map of the Ukuwela Nature Reserve Figure 5.1 Organisational structure for the Ukuwela Nature Reserve Figure 8.1 Process for the implementation of Management Plans ABBREVIATIONS Amafa Amafa KwaZulu-Natali (KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Heritage Agency) APO Annual Plan of Operation BECVOL Biomass Estimates from Canopy Volumes CEO Chief Executive Officer CPI Consumer Price Index DCO District Conservation Officer DEA National Department of Environmental Affairs DWAS National Department of Water and Sanitation EIA Environmental Impact Assessment EMF Environmental Management Framework EMP Environmental Management Plan EWT Endangered Wildlife Trust Ezemvelo Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife FPA Fire Protection Association in terms of the National Veld and Forest Fire Act (No.1 of 1998) GIS Geographical Information System IAP Invasive Alien Plant IDP Municipal Integrated Development Plan IUCN International Union for the Conservation of Nature LSU Large Stock Unit MEC Member of the Executive Council METT Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool MOA Memorandum of Agreement MOU Memorandum of Understanding NEMA National Environmental Management Act NEM: PAA National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act NFEPA National Freshwater Ecosystem Priority Area NPAES National Protected Area Expansion Strategy NSBA National Spatial Biodiversity Assessment PA Protected Area PES Present Ecological State (as applied to assessed water resources) SDF Municipal Spatial Development Framework SMME Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises SWOT Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation VCA Veld condition assessment WCPA World Commission on Protected Areas WWF Word Wildlife Fund 1) BACKGROUND 1.1 Purpose of the plan Management plans for biodiversity stewardship sites are strategic documents that provide the framework for the development and operation of biodiversity stewardship sites. Biodiversity stewardship offers varying levels of formal protection of land with nature reserves being the highest level of protection and a recognised protected area in terms of the National Environmental: Management Protected Areas Act, No. 57 of 2003. Because of the importance of its biodiversity and ecological functions, The Greater Ukuwela Nature Reserve qualified and has been declared as a nature reserve in terms of the Act. This management plan informs management at all levels, from the management authority through to support staff within partner organisations and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife. The purpose of the management plan is to: • Provide the primary strategic tool for management of The Greater Ukuwela Nature Reserve, informing the need for specific programmes and operational procedures. • Provide for capacity building, future thinking and continuity of management. • Enable the management authority to develop and manage the Greater Ukuwela Nature Reserve in such a way that its values and the purpose for which it has been established are protected. • Ensure the effective management of the Greater Ukuwela Nature Reserve in accordance with relevant provincial, national and international norms and standards. • The plan outlines the implementation of the conditions laid out in the Protected Area Management Agreement for the Greater Ukuwela Nature Reserve, which are to: o Preserve the ecological integrity (including vulnerable and ecologically sensitive areas) of the game reserve. o Conserve the biodiversity of the game reserve. o Protect areas representative of all ecosystems, habitats and species naturally occurring there. o Protect threatened or rare species. o Assist in ensuring the sustained supply of environmental goods and services provided by the nature reserve. o Provide for the sustainable use of natural and biological resources. o Create or augment destinations for nature-based tourism. o Manage the interrelationship between the natural environment, human settlement and economic development. THE GREATER UKUWELA NATURE RESERVE MANAGEMENT PLAN 1 o Rehabilitate and restore degraded ecosystems and promote the recovery of threatened and vulnerable species. THE GREATER UKUWELA NATURE RESERVE MANAGEMENT PLAN 2 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CONTEXT Introduction Management issues, Description and challenges and context opportunities STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK Vision Objectives Key performance areas Strategic outcomes Zonation plan OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK Administrative framework Adaptive management Management Guiding principles activity Management targets